04/10/2016
Today the 2016 in Physics was awarded to David J Thouless, F Duncan M Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz. It is in relation to their research on topological phases of matter, and topological phase transitions. These phases manifest on the surfaces of materials, such materials pose exciting possibilities for future technologies.
In 1980 a quantum hall effect experiment found that, in high magnetic fields, the hall conductivity was exactly quantised. The stability of these integer steps was unexpected, it wasn't until much later that it could be explained by the analogy of topological invariance.
A Facebook post isn't the best format to explain topology, and topological invariance, so I'll refer you to an excellent clip of Prof. Thors Hans Hansson: https://youtu.be/9qpoBG5hy-A?t=4m52s
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences every year awards the Nobel Prizes in Physics. This year the announcement will be on Tuesday 4 October, 11:45 a.m. at t...
